96 Hours Later, 60 Minutes Hasn't Corrected the Record

Sunday night, CBS’s 60 Minutes aired a segment titled “Christians of the Holy Land” which cynically distorted a complicated story to disparage Israel. Among the myriad errors in the report is the myth of a declining Palestinian Christian population. A report issued by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs in 2011 provided extensive documentation that the Christian population in the West Bank is not decreasing – and according to Palestinian sources is actually increasing. Unfortunately, the 60 Minutes report missed these critical data and repeated the common misrepresentation that the Palestinian Christian population is in a state of exodus. The population decline, even though fabricated, is blamed on Israel

According to Palestinian sources, the Palestinian Christian population in the West Bank is actually growing – and has been growing since 1967. The Palestinian Prime Minister noted in 2009 that the Christian population in the West Bank increased. And other data support this increase. In fact, since 1967, the Christian population in Bethlehem increased by 11% and in the Bethlehem region grew by 56%.   The West Bank Christian population grew from 42,484 in 1967 to over 51,000 today   The only “decline” that has been documented is the percentage Christians represent in the predominantly Muslim West Bank, a population that grew almost fourfold during the same period.

A further distortion unchallenged in the 60 Minutes story was the reportage of the Kairos Palestine document, an anti-Israel manifesto that places 100% of the blame for the tragic Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Israel, stating “if there were no occupation, there would be no resistance” and thus Israelis and Palestinians could live in peace. This whitewashing of reality ignores the undeniable fact that groups like Hamas seek Israel’s destruction and have used suicide bombs, rockets, and other terror to strike at Israel.

The “deligitimization” drive of the Kairos authors was demonstrated by a comment made by one of its authors for the 60 minutes report – that a goal of the document is the “boycott of Israel.”

Sadly, the 60 Minutes report also overlooked the religious freedom guaranteed by Israel and the significant growth of the Palestinian Christian population in Israel itself. Christians live and pray in freedom in Israel, in marked contrast to the oppression they face throughout most of the Middle East.

60 Minutes should correct the record. Please use the web form below to contact 60 Minutes.

Subject:

Your Letter:

I am writing to share my disappointment in your recent report, “Christians of the Holy Land.” While there is no doubt this is an important topic, your report drew false conclusions not reflected in the demographic data.  Such errors result not only in tarnishing your record, but it also poisons the important national dialogue on Israel-Palestine. Without honest reporting about the impact and motivation of Israel’s policies, you feed the motivations of those like the authors of the Kairos Palestine document who wish to perpetuate a false and harmful narrative.

Among the myriad errors in the report is the myth of a declining Palestinian Christian population. A report issued by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs in 2011 provided extensive documentation that the Christian population in the West Bank is not decreasing – and according to Palestinian sources is actually increasing.  (http://engage.jewishpublicaffairs.org/images/JCPA%20Background%20Paper%20on%20Palestinian%20Christians%20final.pdf)  Unfortunately, you missed these critical data and repeated as fact the common misrepresentation that the Palestinian Christian population is in a state of exodus. And despite being fabricated, this population decline was blamed on Israel.

According to Palestinian sources, the Palestinian Christian population in the West Bank is actually growing – and has been growing since 1967. The Palestinian Prime Minister noted in 2009 that the Christian population in the West Bank increased. And other data support this increase. In fact, since 1967, the Christian population in Bethlehem increased by 11% and in the Bethlehem region grew by 56%. The West Bank Christian population grew from 42,484 in 1967 to over 51,000 today. The only “decline” that has been documented is the percentage Christians represent in the predominantly Muslim West Bank, a population that grew almost fourfold during the same period.

Contributing to the false understandings in your report was the unchallenged reportage of the Kairos Palestine document, an anti-Israel manifesto that places 100% of the blame for the tragic Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Israel. Among its many faults, Kairos states, “if there were no occupation, there would be no resistance” and thus Israelis and Palestinians could live in peace. This whitewashing of reality ignores the undeniable fact that groups like Hamas seek Israel’s destruction and have used suicide bombs, rockets and other terror to strike at Israel. The “delegitimization” drive of the kairos authors was demonstrated by an “extra” comment on your website made by one of the authors – that a goal of the document is the “boycott of Israel.”

Sadly, your report also overlooked the religious freedom guaranteed by Israel and the significant growth of the Palestinian Christian population in Israel itself. Christians live and pray in freedom in Israel, in marked contrast to the oppression they face throughout most of the Middle East.

Your mistaken report was a disappointment to me, but also contributed to the falsehoods being spread against Israel. I sincerely hope that you correct the record and I will encourage my friends and family to reach out to you on this point as well.

60 Minutes

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